Here's a "found" poem I created from a post I read on a local poetry listserve a few years ago. Study it carefully, for it contains a profound message as to why poetry--and the resulting audience--remains in a sort of stasis like a mastadon perfectly frozen in a giant glacier.
CAN THE AUDIENCE
FOR POETRY EXPAND? (literary poet)
The idea that poets ought to
proselytize the masses into their art
isn’t as clear-cut in my mind.
One one hand, poetry will die unless
new voices are heard and developed.
On the other hand, not everyone is
suited for or interested in poetry.
Some friends of mine who are artists
in other fields have a passing interest
in poetry, but their creativity in visual
or performance art doesn’t translate
to word-oriented art forms like
poetry or fiction.
Other friends of mine can muster little
more than toleration of the fact that
I write—they simply aren’t interested
in literary things, and that’s fine.
Others who have attended poetry
readings with me out of curiosity
came away with the overwhelming
impression that we were all “weird”.
(I’m still in therapy over that
particular statement, but I can
completely understand why they
got that impression. It IS highly
atypical to have the courage to stand in
front of strangers and perform art
which is often highly personal—
that simply doesn’t happen in
day-to-day life.)
Speaking roughly, there are three
groups of people: people who already
participate in poetry, people who are
not suited for or interested in art,
and people who have an interest in art
but are unaware of the poetry scene
in Southern California and uneducated
about poetry in general.
The community can expand with
infusions of talent from that third
group, but chasing after EVERYONE
is not realistic.
The vast majority of people are
simply NOT interested in poetry,
and that is their prerogative.
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